mthomas08

1: Def SSDs, I can't stress the difference in feeling. It makes a basic spec PC feel like a good one even after a few years. 2: We don't buy branded PCs, we get RedCats and they are same spec at just over £200 per PC. With SSDs after a few years they've been fine and still feel like new.

Maybe some of us just enjoy what we do and don't like the idea of turning up Monday morning with 60 emails to go through first thing Having so much work to do isn't necessarily down time capability, at times (again like me) I just give a damn about my work place. It's not just a job to me and will never be - otherwise I'd truly be unhappy.

We've got rid of all ours including all the machines that use it. You know what this is one little friend I do not miss.

Physically built better? Less likely to be broken? More reliable? Our Music Macs have been struggling in the last 24 months and they are 7/8 years old. They were not cheap (around 4x price of Windows PCs I buy now) but compared to the spec I would buy I’d still be saving quite a bit. You can get equivalent “pretty” looking PCs which we have but because they are in an area widely used and frankly abused the PCs have struggled. USB ports galore are broken, cables constantly unplugged, even the occasional smashed screen costing around £150 to repair. Our Macs have survived better because they are used a lot less, physical looked after and the software installed has been unaltered in quite a few years. Our Windows PCs are generally used all day to the point we struggle to gain access to a single IT suite during normal hours, their software changes occur far too often. We've got Windows equipment far more reliable than those Macs but others far worse. All down to being looked after. I don’t spec a £500 PC that does internet, word and a bit of Photoshop once a blue moon. What we’ve done is put a teacher Windows PC in the Music room to see if a slightly higher than normal spec can keep up with the job (it has so far). After all the debates that has occurred here, it all came down to one thing "preference". If you're a full Mac system it makes no sense to then revert to Windows PCs > training > software purchased > licenses > servers configuration etc. Likewise if you're a full Windows setup. Let’s face it, many of us here have Macs (certainly my experience) because the Head of Music walks in with their MacBook and has a Mac at home and instantly compares it to your Music PCs. • Which are 50%+ slower through domain logging on compared to the home Mac which turns on and is ready • Are most likely 5 years old on average • A ton of software etc installed • Low specifications through having no budget • Not looked after • Reimaged about once every two years through lack of time And I for one can speak from personal experience directly with the above. Hell once we had a suite of PCs that the Head of Music (a previous school) organised himself, they were fully custom built from a local owned shop (no joke), he did his own networking, installing and setting up. We ended up redoing the entire thing, struggled to create an image for the poorly built machines and had endless amount of errors etc… in the end the Head again fell in to believing that the Head Music could fix the entire thing by having a full set of Macs. Those Macs like many of us at first were for "turning on and go" then they want network drives, logons, security permissions, customisation - none of it pre organised or planned.... Another clean up mess which was made relatively perfect by one of the IT team. The Head at the end of it all admitted that he shouldn’t have believed in the usual “gunk” that comes from Heads of Music (sorry but my experience). We are at the stage where we are considering either replacing them with new Macs/Server or PCs. We’ve got a site wide Adobe license so we have the Windows equivalent. It’s a question of what the HT/Music Teacher wants to spend. I will revise my report and leave it in their hands.

This is actually the way NOT to teach, it's true it is dumbing it all down which is why to be an outstanding teacher you must be interacting with the students. It's not about just putting something on the board and letting them copy it. That's no different to chalk and blackboards. What is supposed to happen is a bit like speech notes, you elaborate on it all and talk to the students. You question them, give them feed back on what they say, explain what's on the board, get the kids thinking outside of the box and involved. Silly article in my view, considering even with debice - there are tools available which allows note making. Something several of our staff here use. I've even given wireless keyboards with a touchpad to some so they don't need to be at the front of the class. In fact there are limitations with a board Vs IT, the board you must be at the front and rub out when you've finished. With IT you can switch slides very easily. It's all down to the staff member and tools used. At a time where staff are constantly complaining that they don't have the time (this article also mentioned it) you want to add to their work load? Give them all 20 minutes before each class to "board prep". In a climate of School cuts, not enough teachers in a School and too many students... banning powerpoint would be interesting to see and not in a good way.

Another one gone... Quite annoying that people instantly thought Terminator.. even though he was very young and in the movie for 5 seconds. He was in the Titanic much more.. A ton of films but I won't mention the Thunderbirds movie... he did Twister (I loved it) and Apollo 13 which is still one of my favourite films. A great actor can go from showing off the hullbreak, calling for game over and then shouting out "oh you want some too" - All in one film. Aliens. Still annoys the hell out of me that they killed him in that movie. Another great gone... 2017 is going to be taking more of them I can feel it...

I wouldn't have said "bloody busy", I'd have said doing something else. I never for one second think I'd be sitting here doing nothing. Instead of perhaps fire fighting all day I would be box ticking and more future development/proofing. Remember hearing people say our jobs would fast be disappearing (yet in my area it hasn't dropped at all). The reliance has by no means dropped, we've gone from very little accessible to the outside world to everything needed for staff and students for homework etc. IT isn't working 8-6, instead it's working from 7-8 and even on Saturdays - even though it's up 24/7. Certainly makes me think about those who claimed IT would fast vanish out of education... Instead (as you mentioned data), we have a lot more reliance on that data presented to staff to enhance their teaching and learning. All of it is prepared through out SIMs.net and tracking sheets, data manager has done a lot of work recently to present it etc. Our phones are fully IP, projectors can't be lived without and we are openly considering cloud options instead of replacing our two main servers. If our broadband can keep up and services are just as good etc. I'm not shocked at all how things are today. We've been saying for decades that IT would effectively take over in some way, we'd all have devices with us, access to the internet - you name it in some way it's been predicted. Until IT can fix it self all day every day, we will still be here prodding along.

We use lightspeed plus we're going to a different supplier for it and our broadband. We've managed to save quite a bit of money while getting double the bandwidth. The lightspeed report currently is slow due to the way LEA has it all setup, hosted by them and for a single report it took us two whole days. Typically it was the one we needed quite urgently. Our new provider is more local to us and also provided our phone system. I can't complain too much about lightspeed it self.

Our HT had already told everyone to cut down the emails. 62 emails in the space of 10 days. The majority could have been sent to Teaching and not Everyone.

My unpopular opinion still has not changed Mate managed to find one world we created but wasn't our big one which we spent months on. One day!

Although I can't help with Schools broadband, we too will be in the same boat soon enough. We're looking at a possible relationship with a company which will not only offer a better price on 200MB compared to our current 100MB, but will also be able to provide savings on our filtering. Potentially around 15% savings per year when compared to the 100MB, even when compared to EIS's "Sigh up now for better savings" which actually is about £288 a year...... which over 3 years is £864.. I know every little helps but... When you compare the costs of their 200MB the savings are around 25/30%. Once upon a time I was very happy sticking to the same because it provided everything but if another company is willing to do it but cheaper (also more local and already seen their setup)...

Sounds similar to us, we currently have two plans. One to replace them with Windows PCs using Adobe software and two to replace all with new Macs and a new server.

I couldn't offer assistance on Teachmeet? no idea what it is - but BYOD is a whole different ball game. Currently finishing up on a report which may be the very last one I do (for a while at least) in regards to these types of Schemes. We ran it for many years and the School is scrapping it and returning to basics/what works - PCs. 15 Pages long that was down from 20+ pages of notes.

Bit late but I like offering an extra penny thoughts worth. Currently in a similar situation on inheriting a mess but we are making huge progress. Personally I have been spending more time doing sort of School Business Manager work so there is always a shot of progression down that route. With IT always being around in some form or another that certainly wouldn't be going to waste. Even considering the idea of doing the same course that my LM did.

Not viable for us because we don't have control over our BYOD Windows Devices, but because as I said I like thorough. It's not Windows Updates nor is it Google Store for the Android Apps. We use Android, Windows primarily for the BYOD but Students still have endless phones, iPads etc. We do however prevent iTunes through it. Still it doesn't matter because we know the cause and the Scheme is being scrapped anyway, plug pulled and being thrown out the window.

Think it's been covered but offering my penny. We see a lot of Students in/out our door but primarily because of the BYOD Scheme which is being cancelled, so we should see a cut down. Generally interact with kids/staff often either way though. It's all School based, some Schools will basically expect you to be the IT Techies and nothing more. While other Schools will expect you to be "Dogs Bodies", Admin work, caretaking, cleaning and Teaching Assistant but again that is depending on the School. Personally I'd like us to be doing more Staff Training, keeping Staff more and more in the loop (which we do well BTW), generally working with Departments instead of seeing them when they have dire please fix yesterday problems.

The way this Country is going the word Democratic will be a Legend, a Myth, something we tell our grandchildren that existed a long time ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away. The more you privatise, the more you rely on highly paid Fat Cats who make the decisions. Some Schools even remove the governors and replace them with directors/insert terms and not necessarily from local areas but instead people who play ball with those Fat Cats. Still it's all screwed, just like the NHS and Public Transport. Which is why I am glad of our Schools current situation, we are safe and secure for the moment anyway.

Totally true, if restaurants that charge a fortune can make mistakes or shall we say questionable things.. what does that say about the food industry. No matter where you eat, no matter what food you buy - there's always a risk.

Yep. I loved her comedy, no fear at all. As I said, a different time. In todays world too many comedians are having to tread carefully out of fear of one person whining about it on Twitter.

Another great comedian gone from a time when Political Correctness garbage didn't exist, people had backbones and a sense of humour.

Although yes, a School doesn't have to join a MAT unless dire circumstances or they voluntarily join. Don't think the Head can complain too much if they lose control, even if it is done through cloak and dagger style which I have witnessed. As long as a School is financially secure and in a good place with Student intake/results/Ofsted etc, like we are. You don't have to consider joining a MAT. Would also add, although the Gov say things like "they have protected the Student fund income Schools get" what they failed to mention (typical Politicians) is that the XX amount is only the same due to the increase amount of Students enrolled. This was mentioned when Schools had to keep on Students who don't find employment/training etc. Typical Politicians really. It's why I can't stand them, they twist and turn things. You point out the negative and they refuse to talk about that instead look at the positives. If you ignore the negatives in anything you are living in cloud cuckoo land. Then again they are politicians. Sometimes I wish they did our job. Well forget about your projector not working, look your PC and Interactive Whiteboard still works. I'm not here to discuss that you can't use your IWB because that still works fine. I have the same budget I have from last year, it doesn't matter if I have another 1000 devices to accommodate for come September. That will not be the issue. I will get volunteer Students to maintain all that for me which will cost nothing.

We was LA controlled much like most Schools at the time (before Academies came around). Even as an Academy which has adopted that "LA" process, those in charge if they choose to can effectively grant you a pay rise. Depending on how much Dictatorship? Control? The SLT/HT have over the Governors. The decision made for me at the time didn't even go through the normal process of SLT > Governors etc - it was simply made by the HT. It's a bit touchy and edgy in my view, some Schools stick to the "Chain of Command" but others the HT can choose to do as he/she wishes. Some Schools will even use the Governors to say no, even though it's not gone through them. Think the point I am trying to make is if they want to, they can give you more money with little to no trouble. The main issue is sometimes they simply don't think you are worth it, don't have the budget or perhaps they don't know what you do. It's pretty simple to revise a job description, job title and pay for a member of Staff. There's not exactly a cap for Support Staff in place stopping everyone from being paid above 19K. At the end of the day if they were desperate to keep some one, they can do it. Although yes I do understand this isn't every School or every type of School. I would be surprised if the majority of Schools were simply not able to provide pay rises easier enough.

And this is it, the answer isn't just mine either it comes direct from our Business Manager. It effectively cuts out the middle man and allows the School to do what they choose instead of dictation from the LEA. That really is it, but why force Schools to do it? Why does it need to become the norm? Then again asking the Government to prove why we should or shouldn't do something has always been the problem. When they lack facts we get fed propaganda and are simply told "It's better"...... Bit like the EU in or out argument. Then the parties argue with each other like School children, not because they believe they are right but because they don't like agreeing with the other party...

Although I would agree, we are not the priority – Teachers are and always will be. This is however School based on how heavily reliance Teachers are on IT. If you are a School that can survive without IT for an hour e.g. Internet Loss then that would support what you said. If you are like us, we can’t even have the Printers offline for 5 minutes. Our Biometrics must be running all day – this ties in to Cashless Catering where they can actually lose hundreds every day (at least head of restaurant tells me). If we lose our Internet, we lose our online text books, learning platform and SLG/Email which are used for Teaching and Learning (assigning work, performing online activities). If that fails they have to resort to printing copies (IT) or purchasing those books and that is £££ - not to mention the fact Students can access these systems at home. After all Schools no longer have a ton of spare cash to throw out the window anymore which is why we have resorted to money saving with online text books and not replacing real text books every year. Every £10,000 really does matter. And no I’m not here to debate how the Teacher chooses to Teach (electronic or not) – as you said we are here to provide the Support for their Teaching and Learning in regards to IT. I think this discussion has popped up before, although a School may not lose £££ compared to a business. That money instead translates to grades/results – at least that’s what Head Teachers and Deputies have told me throughout the Years which I completely agree with. Although Teachers should always have a plan B, it doesn’t always work like that when they don’t have the time – at least that’s what tell me. Some Schools don’t get me wrong will probably manage with the lack of IT but when our Staff have planned the next 6-12 months of their curriculum on IT usage, it does have a bigger impact if things don’t work. Although again you are right, there is positions available if the School chooses to create them or simply provides pay rises if they choose. There is not much difference between the title I have now, compared to say 5-7 Years ago. Although my pay is considerably different. At my last job some years ago, I remember getting a phone call from the HT late in the evening. He told me that he simply didn’t want to lose me and offered me a considerable pay rise for me to stay. In fact it still is the biggest jump I’ve had my entire life (about 70% if I remember). The School is very capable of doing it if they feel you are “worth it”. At the end of the day what it really comes down to is - A. Do they think you are worth it? B. Are they aware of the work you do? Not the only one who has friends in the private sector and I hear the other end of the story. Better pay, less stress, less unknown issues, barely any last minute jobs and able to plan projects which either get authorised or not and don’t get cancelled just because of 1 person. In fact they have and still do – try to persuade me to leave education. In fact only one would say he misses Educational work but only because he enjoys the face to face support. BUT because I actually do enjoy my type of job, I don’t complain about it all day and know it’s my choice. I would also add as for “Longer Holidays” I get the exact same 20 something days off a Year as those I know. Unless you are on Term Time only or on different contracts. People don’t want the cake, they usually want appreciation and recognition.

Already been there and done, even our current LEA Broadband Provider have been involved. Unfortunately due to mobile devices and more "Online" reliance there is limitations to what physically can be done. Although we are reviewing our current broadband (as mentioned) to a possible 200MB connection and the big IF we go Cloud based. Things like this always on my radar. For our current Broadband provider the costs are heavy for a 200MB connection, to a new one who are going to provide like for like it will be a 35% cost reduction.